The distribution of audio and video (“AV”) content in motor vehicles is a fast growing market. The manufacturing of modern motor vehicles has included such features as automotive infotainment systems which can display high-definition formats in a screen (panel) located e.g. in a Head-Unit (“HU”) of a vehicle.
An infotainment system of a vehicle typically combines data from multiple sources before displaying the data to vehicle occupant(s). One common example of such multiple sources includes stereo rearview cameras of a vehicle generating their respective video streams. An external device such as a smartphone or a tablet computer connected to an infotainment system of a vehicle is another common example of a data source. Such an external device could be connected to the vehicle's infotainment system via a User Interface Panel (“UIP”) acting as a console for connecting various external (user) devices, thereby e.g. allowing a user to connect a smartphone in order to view video or other graphics on the screen in the HU. The UIP might also act as a console where video streams from the stereo rearview cameras may come in.
Data streams from different sources are combined by an applications processor, residing e.g. in the HU of a vehicle. The applications processor could further perform additional operations such as e.g. adding a layer of graphics on top of an input video stream, etc., following which, it would display the resulting video stream on the screen (panel) of the vehicle's infotainment system.
Applications processors used in recent automotive infotainment systems use Camera Serial Interface (“CSI”) of Mobile Industry Processor Interface (“MIPI”) alliance to receive data streams from camera subsystems. CSI is a serial link for high-speed transfer of data, particularly suitable for video data, over short distances with low power and low electromagnetic interference (“EMI”). The CSI includes a transmitter (“CSI Tx”). Embodiments of the present invention relate to methods and systems for providing input to a CSI Tx, in particular to a CSI Tx as defined in version CSI-2 of MIPI.